hold me back, or push me ;)

[Bob Miller]

Backing a trailer is like playing a violin, anyone can try it and make a lot of noise and no music, but once they learn the right way it's actually hard to do it wrong.


I tell peeps to go out into the middle of a big parking lot and discover how to back up in a straight line, after that it's fairly easy.

[Christyn Midwestyn]

Also, talked to two RV dealers on the phone today, one was helpful and informative and the other was wretchedly rude and miserable...unfortunately I don't think either of them have the size I'm looking for. They are talking huge, heavy things!

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Christyn Midwestyn

Also, talked to two RV dealers on the phone today, one was helpful and informative and the other was wretchedly rude and miserable...unfortunately I don't think either of them have the size I'm looking for. They are talking huge, heavy things!

I think it took us about 3 years to find the trailer we wanted and it ended up being a 3 hour drive away.

[Bob Miller]

Unless they have a rare "Used" unit, dealers don't sell FGRV's. With the exception of BigFoot they are all sold direct, and BigFoot only has a very few dealers in the U.S.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by MC1

I think it took us about 3 years to find the trailer we wanted and it ended up being a 3 hour drive away.

I second the “go-slow” approach. We have been in the market for some time. Curiously, it was a dealer who advised me to buy a used trailer and see if we were really interested in the whole trailering experience.

Private owner RV ads are full of the "only used once", or twice, or 15 times or whatnot. And, I believe that this is often actually true. People find that someone in the household doesn't really take to the experience, or they don't have the time they would like to devote to trailering, or that life chooses this time to throw a curve ball. Or, it turned out to be a great trailer - for somebody else!

We bought a 5x10 teardrop trailer from an owner that had it custom manufactured. They had traveled to Michigan to pick it up from the manufacturer and drove it home for a grand total of over 4,500 miles round trip. And then it sat, and sat, and sat. They finally sold it to us about 15 months later. Mind you, these were people that had a nice Artic Fox trailer and enjoyed camping a great deal. But "life got in the way" and they sold it to us at a substantial loss.

Part of our motivation in buying the 1,150-pound teardrop was that we could tow it with my 2002 AWD Passat. The AWD has a slightly higher rating than a FWD, but still caps out at 2,000 pounds maximum. That was very limiting. (One rule of thumb is that people load about 1,000 pounds additional to a trailer’s “dry weight”. Some do carry less. In any event, take note the reference to the “real world” trailer weights mentioned by Jon earlier in this thread.)

Once we started trailering with the teardrop, we quickly realized that we greatly enjoy the trailering experience, but that it is also very difficult to pull your pants on while delicately posed on your shoulder blades.

So, we renewed the search for a "standee". (In fact, it appears that as of 10:40 AM here we are now the owners of a 17’ FGRV, but that's another story for another thread.)

You might consider an A-Frame hard-sided pop-up trailer. There are several manufacturers, including ALiner and Chalet. These are very light and versatile and might serve you well in the interim. (I hope they don’t throw me off the forum here for suggesting a non-FGRV!)

I am also posting a ‘small portion’ of a spreadsheet I have been compiling for some time. It is a listing of some candidate tow vehicles, generally ’current’ models, and includes some summary ratings from a popular consumer’s magazine. The information may not be correct, and as noted in the case of the Forester, it might not apply to a different model year, so please verify the information before dropping $80K on that new Porsche Cayenne there.

And, now it appears that it is time for me to get that new tow vehicle myself, seeing how I appear to be a FGRV owner now...

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

I am also posting a ‘small portion’ of a spreadsheet I have been compiling for some time. It is a listing of some candidate tow vehicles, generally ’current’ models, and includes some summary ratings from a popular consumer’s magazine.

This copy has the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey included.